When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 106 - Never apologize

They caught up with the group pretty quickly and as Lou brushed arms with Daryl and their eyes locked, he knew instantly that something was wrong. He knew that stare - that vacant, far off look that sat bland in her otherwise endearing eyes. He knew, just as he knew everything else about her, that at the end of the night somebody was going to be dead...and that she already knew who it was.

He watched her through the corner of his eye, noting every time she had to blink away tears and every time she looked towards Nicole, who had her arms wrapped around her torso, occasionally wiping her eyes with her fingers. The second they came to a stop at their desired location, behind the tree line of the final stretch towards Alexandria, he managed to speak for the first time.

"You alrigh'?" He asked quietly, looking between the two girls.

Louise exhaled. "Yeah"

"Wha's wrong?"

She cleared her throat and with a solum look on her face, turned towards him and spoke quietly. "Carl's bit...that's why he stayed behind" she took a deep breath. "He's dying, Daryl"

Daryl's eyes flashed to Nicole, who wiped her cheeks once more. The archer sighed heavily, his head dipping in a confirmative nod before he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're ending this tonight" he moved to Nicole, who was stilling failing at hiding the tears on her pale skin and repeated his actions. "It'll be alrigh'"

The young girl nodded and much to his surprise, wrapped her arms his torso. He didn't fight her. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head offering her the smallest amount of comfort - though, they both knew that no amount of hugs were going to fix how she felt. His hand rubbed her arm a few times before she pulled away.

Behind the trio, Tara was helping other members of their community climb down the ladder inside the sewer entrance. Many of them grimaced as their hands touched the rusted metal but they proceeded to move, one after the other in the dampness below. Louise sucked in a breath and turned to Daryl.

"Alrigh', you, me and Rosita will head up the road, see if we can cut 'em off before they get to Alexandria. Tara-" he said, turning to face her. "Everyone needs to stay quiet down there. We'll be back as soon as we can"

Louise nodded. "Nic, you're-"

"Staying to help Tara? I know" she said, getting ready to head off towards the grate but stopping the second Lou's hand touched her arm.

"No, you're coming with us" she finished. "I can't baby you forever. No point in training you if I constantly keep you back, right?"

Though she tried to hide it, the slight joy that entered her eyes wasn't unmissable. Nicole nodded and pulled the knife out of her waist band. Whether Louise had had said that with the intention to cheer her up she didn't know, but it would definitely be a welcomed distraction for her.

They kept quiet and low, the only form of communication being either Daryl or Lou signaling in the direction they needed to go, or the occasional finger on lips as they pressed their backs to numerous trees. They could barely see more than a meter in front of them but they preserved. It was almost thirty minutes later when they settled into position a few miles down the road.

Lou handed Nicole a gun and pulled the rifle that was strapped to her back down. She balanced it on the rocks in front of her, their cover provided mainly by the countless trees that surrounded them. The only light came from the trucks that began to approach, lead by Dwight, straight into their trap. She nodded at Daryl, who prepared the smoke grenade and threw it into the middle of the road.

As soon as the first truck hit the fog, he shouted.

"Now!"

Lou began to fire strategically. She took out the tires of each vehicle, watching as they skidded and slammed into each other, creating a pile-up so large it blocked the entire road. The Saviors shouted out and tried to shoot back but without light, they had no idea the direction of their gun fire was coming from.